WATCH: PBS NewsHour’s look ahead to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address

President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address comes amid a worsening crisis in Ukraine, a yearslong pandemic that has taken nearly 1 million American lives and an often gridlocked Congress that has stalled much of his legislative agenda.

Ahead of the address, PBS NewsHour’s Digital Anchor Nicole Ellis discusses how the president will speak to those issues in a series of conversations with the NewsHour’s William Brangham,Lisa Desjardins and Laura Santhanam, as well as Nancy Youssef of the Wall Street Journal. The full series of conversations will air at 7 p.m. EST March 1.

The State of the Union has become “a very important moment for presidents to try and signal who they are and win over voters from the other party,” Desjardins said. According to recent polling by PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist, more than half of Americans viewed Biden’s first year as a failure, making this a critical moment in his presidency, Desjardins noted.

This speech comes on the heels of Biden announcing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who could become the first Black woman ever confirmed to the nation’s highest court if confirmed by the Senate.

Meanwhile, Congress is still working around partisan gridlock on some parts of Biden’s agenda. Biden has had several legislative priorities stalled, including Build Back Better– a nearly $2 trillion social welfare package.


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